Microsoft opens its largest India data center hub as AI race heats up

Microsoft opened its largest data center hub in India in Hyderabad on Thursday, signaling a major push into the country's growing artificial intelligence market. The facility, which includes three availability zones, allows enterprises to run Microsoft Cloud workloads locally while meeting stringent data residency, security, and compliance requirements. Microsoft claims the Hyderabad region is now part of its largest hyperscale cloud presence in the country, with additional data centers in Pune, Chennai, and Mumbai.

The announcement comes as enterprise AI adoption in India surges, with the Hyderabad region already attracting interest from customers across financial services, digital platforms, and diversified enterprises such as Adani Group, Bajaj Finance, and HDFC Bank. These companies are leveraging the infrastructure to bolster business continuity, expand cloud capacity, and support AI initiatives.

Microsoft President, India & South Asia Puneet Chandok emphasized the critical role the Hyderabad region plays in the company's broader investment in India's AI infrastructure, which now totals $20.5 billion. He stated that the facility is designed to help businesses move faster from AI experimentation to creating durable business value, requiring trusted infrastructure close to where data resides, teams work, and decisions are made.

Industry projections suggest that India's public cloud services market could reach $45.7 billion by 2030, with AI spending growing nearly twice as fast.